Origins
by wafische
Summary: After a night of fighting ghosts, Danny and friends dig out the old family album. Story Complete. Please R&R.
1. The Album

It was a beautiful autumn evening in Amity Park. The sun had been out all day, but now, just enough clouds had settled in over the Atlantic to create the most dramatic effect on the sunset, brilliant gold, red and orange accented by violet clouds. The ships were all coming into the harbour and young children were being called inside, the older ones heading out for some last-minute adventures before dark. All was as it always was on nights like this. At the Fenton house, that usually meant chaos.

"I am Technus!" the ghost-scientist declared, "Ghost Master of Science and Electrical Technology!"

"We know," Danny, Sam, and Tucker all sighed in monotone unison. With Jazz having dragged the folks off to some event at school, there was no one around to hear the commotion in the lab. Not that it had started from there. Technus had shown up in an ice-cream truck and Danny had been beating him over to here for the last five minutes.

"Then you will know the power in my possession! And soon, I will..."

"Dude, I've already dragged you here. Can't you just go into the portal and save the Fenton Thermos some work?" Technus stared for a moment, then shrugged in defeat.

"Alright. See ya' next time I get out," and with that, he flew into the ghost-zone portal.

"Thanks!" Tucker called after him.

_(He's a Phantom)  
(Danny Phantom)_  
  
**_Yo, Danny Fenton, he was just fourteen  
When his parents built a very strange machine  
It was designed to view a world unseen_**  
  
_(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)  
_  
**_When it didn't quite work  
His folks, they just quit  
But then Danny took a look inside of it  
There was a great big flash  
Everything just changed  
His molecules got all rearranged!_**  
  
_(Phantom, Phantom)_  
  
**_When he first woke up  
He realized  
He had snow white hair  
And glowing green eyes  
He could walk through walls,  
Disappear, and fly!  
He was much more unique than the other guy!  
  
It was then that he knew what he had to do  
He had to stop all the ghosts  
That were coming through  
He's here to fight  
For me and YOU!_**  
  
_(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)  
(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)  
_  
**_Gonna catch them all cuz he's_** _Danny Phantom_  
  
**ORIGINS**

"That was quite the night of ghost-catching, if I do say so myself," Tucker said proudly, "we managed to round up..."

"One ghost," Sam said, "Technus was the only one around tonight."

"...Right," Tucker said, feeling defeated, "The point is, we've got an hour of free time before we have to head home. Got anything to eat around here?"

"Yeah," Danny said, "I'm pretty hungry myself. Let's make some snacks and head up to my room."

---

The three friends now found themselves lying around upstairs, a bag of pretzels and some cheese crackers lying among them. Danny and Tucker were sitting on the floor, completely absorbed in a comic book; Sam was watching and rolling her eyes.

"Oh, sweet!" Tucker said about one panel, his eyes bulging out behind his glasses. Sam sighed. She needed _something_ to do. After Danny's first fight with Skulker he wasn't allowed to have a TV or a computer in his room, so she had to look elsewhere. There was a bookshelf downstairs that Danny had never talked about or taken anything from. Maybe there was something worth looking at in there.

"I'm heading downstairs," she stood up. Danny nodded, but like Tucker, seemed oblivious to his surroundings. Sighing once more, Sam left the room. The bookshelf was in the den. Mainly it had files and diaries loaded with Jack's ghost notes. There was a book on physics and some yearbooks from college. The only thing that looked interesting was a large, old binder labelled "Family Album."

---

"This is great," Tucker's grin was so big it looked like it was about to burst, "And this is just Issue #1 of this story!"

"Yeah," Danny said, beginning to come back to reality, "Did Sam say where she was going?"

"She left?" just as the two fully pulled out from the comic-book, Sam walked back in.

"Hey," she said, "Found your family album downstairs."

"Really?" Danny got up, "Mom and Dad haven't taken that thing off the shelf since before I got my powers. I don't even remember half of what's in here!"

"Any embarrassing pictures of Jazz?" Tucker walked over.

"Maybe. Why?"

"Payback. All the cool stuff on my PDA got deleted when she thought it was hers and loaded with junk from school! I can't live like this!" ignoring the ranting, Danny and Sam sat down on the bed and opened up the old binder. The first few pages held photos from Jack and Maddie's wedding; not interesting. There were some baby pictures of Jazz (one rather embarrassing one Tucker took out) and Danny.

"Aw," Sam said in an annoying mother voice, "You were so cute then, Danny!"

"Yeah, yeah," Danny mumbled as Tucker and Sam laughed, "Hey, here's a picture of us."

"Where?" Danny pointed at it. Sure enough, the three of them were on the floor of the Fenton's living room around the age of 3. Tucker didn't have glasses or hair then and Sam was in green instead of black, her hair a bit shorter and there being no ponytail. Danny didn't look that much different than he did now; he was shorter and his hair was even messier back then; but not that different.

"Wow..." Sam's voice had a bit of awe in it, "We've been friends for this long. Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Tucker said, "Hard to even remember our first meeting, too."

"Not with Jazz around," Danny smiled, "She loves to remind me of everything," and with that, their thoughts trailed back to 11 years ago...

---

Jack stood back a few feet from the house to admire his work. He had just begun to mount what was going to be the most amazing ghost-detection satellite ever, linked to his lab in the basement. So far, all he had was the supports, but the rest was on its way.

"Perfect!" he said proudly, "Maddie! Get the camera!" Watching from the window, the five-year old Jazz sighed in embarrassment before closing the window. Building a satellite on the house wasn't likely to attract the neighbours. That was soon proven wrong.

"Howdy, neighbour!" a man called out. He had glasses, a red cap, a goatee, and was carrying a small boy in his arms.

"Hey!" Jack returned the greeting, "Nice to meet ya.' Jack Fenton, Ghost Hunter Extraordinare!"

"Bob Foley. Ghost hunter, eh?"

"Yep. Starting up the detection satellite now!" he now caught the little boy in Bob's arms, "Hey! Who's this little guy?"

"My son Tuck. Three."

"Well, nice to meet ya' Tuck!" Jack smiled, "Hey! Think he'd like to meet my son Danny? Same age as Tuck here."

"Why not? We were heading down to the park, and I'd be happy to take him and bring him back."

"Jack?" Maddie had just come out, "Who's this?"

"Oh, sorry. Maddie, meet the neighbours Bob and Tuck Fenton!"

"Nice to meet you," Maddie smiled.

"He's takin' his son down to the park and Offered to take Danny. Why don't you go get him?"

"Of course! I should tell you, he's a little shy," Maddie headed back in. A few minutes later, she came back out, a short little kid with messy black hair hiding behind her leg.

"Danny," she said, "This is our neighbour, Mr. Fenton. You're going to the park with his son Tucker."

"...Hi," Danny said quickly.

"Hey Danny," Bob smiled, "You want to head down to the park?

"...OK," he came out from behind his mom's leg and followed Bob down the street.

"So, where's the camera?" Jack asked once they were out of site.

---

It was a bit empty down at the park. There were a few older kids skating and playing basketball, and one or two little kids on the slide. A couple sitting on the bench in a dignified manner, oblivious to anything around them. Almost like they were rich.

"Hey, Mansons!" they heard a voice call out, bringing them back to reality.

"Hello, Robert," Mr. Manson said. Their friend was coming over, carrying his son and another little kid walking behind him.

"And who's this?" Mrs. Manson said, smiling at the messy-haired boy.

"This is Danny. He's the Fenton's son."

"Fenton?"

"They just moved in. Ghost-hunters. Is Sam around?"

"Somewhere," Mr. Manson looked around, "She never stays in one place...ah, there she is," a black-haired girl in green clothes fell into view from behind a tree. She quickly got back up on her feet.

"Hi, Mr. Foley," she walked over.

"Hi, Sam," he set Tucker down, "This is Danny. He's going to play with you and Tucker," with that, he sat down with the Mansons and left the kids to their introductions.

"Hi,"" Danny said nervously, "I'm Danny."

"Hi Danny," Sam said, "I'm Sam. You know Tucker already?"

"Kind of."

"Well, I'm Tucker," Tucker smiled, "My dad's a mechan...mechani...he works with cars and stuff."

"My parents hunt ghosts."

"Cool!" Sam said, "Have you seen any?"

"Nope. But my dad has a lab in the basement and he's trying to build something on the roof."

"Cool!" Sam repeated, "All my parents do is go to wherever they work. It's boring. Does your mom do stuff in the lab too?"

"Yeah. More than my dad. My dad's a bit silly. My sister wants them to get 'normal' jobs."

"Who's your sister?"

"Jazz. She's five."

"Why doesn't she like ghosts?" Tucker asked.

"She says that it's not sane or something."

"Oh. Hey, I bet I can throw this rock into that hole in that beehive and close it up," Tucker pointed up into a tree where a beehive was. He tossed a rock he had picked up earlier, trying to aim for the hole. Instead, he knocked the hive off the tree, causing a swarm of bees to fly up and towards him.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDD!" he took off, screaming, chased by the infuriated insects. Danny and Sam looked at each other and shrugged.


	2. Meeting Jazz

"How many bee-stings did you get again?" Danny managed to ask between bursts of laughter. Sam was cracking up so hard she had to lean on Danny to keep from falling over.

"Oh yeah?" Tucker pointed at them "Well you guys..."

"Were fine, since the bees could clearly tell you had thrown the rock at them," Sam could barely speak. Tucker lowered his finger, defeated.

"Alright, Sam," Danny started to calm down, wiping a tear off his face, "Let's give him a break," he turned the page. Danny, Sam, and Tucker were standing together, smiling. They were the same age, with life jackets on. They were on the deck of a cruise ship. Jazz was standing behind them, also smiling.

"Hey, wasn't this the boating cruise where Tucker and me first met Jazz?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Tucker looked at it, "I think that was also when Sam's parents finally met your parents!" Danny nodded. Once again, their thoughts went back all those years...

---

"Welcome!" a short, fat man in overalls, a T-shirt, gloves, and a cap greeted the passengers, "to the Whaler's Cruise! I am Mark, and I will be here to assist you in any fishing-related activities, as that is another luxury provided on the Whaler's Cruise! Please accept a free cardboard box as a gift from me and the crew!" with that, he stepped aside and allowed the passengers onto the boat, each of them awkwardly taking the free boxes. Jack was carrying Danny, Maddie Jazz. As soon as they got the kids their lifejackets, they met up with the Foleys. There were two other people with them, carrying a black-haired girl in green.

"Hey there, Foleys!" Jack greeted them, "And who might you two be?"

"These are the Mansons," Bob handed Tucker to his wife, "Mansons, this is..."

"Jack Fenton, Ghost Hunter Extraordinare!" Jack said proudly, "This is my wife, Maddie, and our children Danny and Jasmine!" Danny waved, having seen the Mansons at the park before; Jazz hid her face in shame.

"Hello there, Danny!" Mrs. Manson smiled at him.

"They've gone with us to the park before," Bob explained, seeing the confused look on Jack's face, "He and Tuck normally play with their daughter Sam."

"That must be who this little girl is, then!" Maddie set Jazz down and looked over at Sam, smiling. The little girl smiled back.

"Yes she is," Mr. Manson said proudly, "She's quite the free thinker, too. Loves animals. Won't touch any meat products at all!"

"Dad..." Sam was getting embarrassed. At the mention of her no-meat policy, Tucker stuck his tongue out in disgust; Danny struggled to keep his laughing quiet.

"Attention, passengers!" the captain called over the intercom, "We're about to leave for sea! My name is Ishmael, and I'll be your captain. If we happen to see any whales, porpoises, or any other sea wildlife, I will be sure to point them out to you. Mark will be coming by to help those fishing. If you find yourselves in need of food or drink (this is a three-hour cruise), come inside the kitchen, and our cooks will be sure to get you something. All aboard!" the ship slowly pulled out of port and towards the sea. The parents set all their children down and headed over to a bench to talk.

"Why don't you like meat?" Danny asked Sam.

"It's not right! They kill animals for it!"

"It's food!" Tucker argued, "I like meat! She won't even eat fish!"

"Fish is meat!"

"Not it's not, it's fish!"

"That's meat!"

"On the food chart, they say meat, fish, poul...poultrie...po...eggs, and nuts! If fish was meat, they wouldn't say fish by itself! It's fish!"

"It comes from an animal, so it's meat!"

"Meat from a cow is muscle! Fish don't have muscle, they have fish! It's fish!"

"Keep it down!" another voice shouted. Sam and Tucker looked over at Jazz.

"Who are you!?" Tucker demanded.

"That's my sister, Jazz," Danny said.

"So these are Tuck and Sam," Jazz said, looking them over, "Please tell me you didn't tell them about Mom and Dad."

"What, that they hunt ghosts? I told them that," Jazz groaned in a I'm-so-miserable kind of way.

"What's wrong with that?" Sam asked, "I think that's cool!"

"It's weird!" Jazz argued, "They should get real jobs! Like your parents!"

"My dad stays at home with me in the summer," Tucker said.

"But he goes to work in the winter, right?"

"Yeah..."

"See!? That's normal! And you!" she pointed at Sam, "Your parents are normal, middle-class people, right?"

"...Yeah," Sam said quickly after hesitation.

"Normal! Danny doesn't think it's weird, but it is! I'm the only sane one in our family!" she marched off.

---

"...So if the ghost is exposed to red ectoplasm for a long enough time, that will in turn cause the glow and energy colour of the ghost to become red. Now, if the ghost has no exposure to any ectoplasm..." Jack had been rambling on about ghosts for a full five minutes. Mr. Manson had asked about ghosts, and now was beginning to regret his question.

"Uh, Jack dear?" Maddie smiled nervously, "I think maybe you should relax for a bit. So, Mr. Manson, what do you do for a living?" he gave her a thank-you look before beginning.

---

Jazz leaned against the rail, watching the sea roll by. She was positive her dad was embarrassing their family somewhere by rambling on about ghosts. She had barely been able to convince him against dragging one of his prototype ghost-trackers with him. Their future in this town was going to be ruined.

"Jazz?" she heard a girl's voice say. She looked down and saw Sam standing next to her

"Oh, hey Sam."

"Isn't fish meat?" so they were still in that argument.

"I'd say it is meat. Why are you asking me though?"

"Danny says you're smart."

"Really?"

"Hey!" Tucker shouted, "What'd she say!?"

"She says it's meat!"

"What!? Danny, I thought you said your sister was smart!"

"She is!" Danny argued. This was the first time Jazz had ever seen him stand up for her. She was touched.

"Fish is fish! Not meat!"

"I'm with them. It's meat!"

"FISH! Fish is fish! Not meat! I'm asking a professional!"

"Who?" Sam crossed her arms.

"The cook!" he turned around...and walked right into the door.

"...I knew it wasn't open," he said when he had recovered. With that, he opened the door and walked in.

"He's not very smart," Sam said to Jazz. Jazz just stared where Tucker had been for a moment...and then burst out laughing.

"You guys are hilarious!" she managed to say before falling onto the floor of the deck.

"We're what?" Danny asked, coming over.

"...Never mind," Jazz said after a few minutes as she stood up, "And Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saying I'm smart," the two smiled.

"Jazz, do you have any money?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I need to ask that Mark guy something."

---

"Even he says it's meat!" Tucker came out of the kitchen, looking rather upset, "Am I the only real meat who knows left!?"

"Calm down, Tucker," Sam smiled, "We got you something," Danny moved something out from behind his back; a salmon steak.

"Fish!" Tucker whipped a fork out from his pocket.


	3. First Ghost Lesson

"I still say fish is fish!" Tucker said.

"Guys," Danny said as Sam began to open her mouth, "Don't start," that prevented the revival of an 11-year old argument. Danny flipped through some more pages. They showed Danny and Jazz's ageing through the years, and Jack's gaining his grey hair. Danny stopped at a picture of the lab. Jack, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were all there. His dad looked the same as he did now. Tucker finally had hair and glasses, but no cap. Sam was still wearing green. Danny's hair looked more like it did now.

"Wasn't that the first time your dad gave us a lesson on ghosts?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, in second grade. I think it was the day where Tucker threw up in your lunch box and told you Ricky Marsh did it," her memory brought back to that, Sam glared at Tucker, who laughed nervously.

"Ex-nay on the eminder-ray," he muttered to Danny before looking at the picture.

---

"So, kids!" Jack walked up to the three chairs, "Anything interesting happen at school?"

"Ricky Marsh threw up in my lunchbox!" Sam said angrily, her arms crossed. Danny gave Tucker a look.

"Well you're about to have a lesson worth learning. A lesson on ghosts!" he ran over to a computer and began hacking away at the keyboard, "With the satellite on the roof half-done, I still can't get a reading on the entire city, but I can look for ghosts in the neighbourhood. And...there are none," he sounded a bit disappointed, "But if there were any, they'd be on here. So, you kids ready to learn about ghosts?"

"Sure!" Sam became excited.

"Alright," Danny smiled.

"I guess..." Tucker seemed a bit nervous.

"Well, the first order of business is to remove some superstitions from your mind. Like that there isn't a scientific explanation for ghosts, that they're just supernatural. The spirit of a human being exits the body when dead. If the body is put to rest, the spirit ends up in the ghost-zone, a realm of ectoplasm. Now, if the ghost is exposed to certain kinds of ectoplasm, it can mutate and transform. A normal-sized human can be shrunken into a tiny face with legs. Different kinds of ectoplasm effect ghosts in different ways. Now, if was exposed to green ectoplasm, the most common kind and the type I use for powering all my ghost equipment..." Jack didn't realise his discussion had turned boring, but it had. While he had his back turned, the three kids slid off their chairs and started looking around the lab. Jack had designed and built everything, but if it weren't for Maddie, hardly any of these things would work. More likely than not, they would've set off explosions that would bring the house down. But since Maddie was around, everything worked (most of the time), and there were plenty of things to look at. Test tubes filled with ectoplasm, paranormal scanners, lasers, ghost-trackers, an old, half-eaten balogna sandwich...there was even a sink.

"Whoa..." Tucker whispered in awe, "You guys have a lot of stuff."

"You should see my dad's shed," Danny smirked.

"What's this thing?" Sam pointed to what looked like a large microscope with one too many adjusting knobs. Jack was still rambling, his back to them. Curious, the three climbed up on the table and began looking over the contraption. Altogether there were 20 knobs and five buttons on the thing, which could be turned and moved as if one was aiming a canon.

"Wonder what these knobs do?" Tucker commented. He spun one around a few times, causing a series of lights going from green to red to appear along the side of the machine. Now things were getting worrisome.

"OK, Tucker," Sam said quickly, "Maybe you should stop messing with this thing."

"Relax," he smiled, "What's the worst that can happen?" as he leaned on the machine, his elbow hit a button. All of the lights turned red, and the machine began to shake violently. The three kids quickly leapt off the table and dashed to their chairs and prepared for the worst. A huge bolt of red fired over them, causing the table at the far side of the room to explode.

"...Now, if a ghost is _not_ put to rest..." Jack finally turned around; he had noticed a thing of what went on. He did noticed how much Danny, Sam, and Tucker were shaking.

"Look at you kids!" he said, "You've been drinking in every word I've said and are shaking in anticipation of what I have to say next! So I'll keep going. If a ghost is not put to rest..."


	4. Halloween Antics

"Y'know, your dad really should see an oculist," Tucker commented.

"Like yours, elbow boy?" their conversation was ended by the sound of a slamming door and Jazz's groan of frustration.

"I can't _believe_ them!" they could tell she was coming up the stairs, screaming, "Once, just once I try to connect with them and have them be involved at activities in Casper High, and they drag Mr. Lancer off to the side and start blathering on about ghosts! If they ever do this again, I..." she kept going.

"School activity didn't work out?" Danny asked sarcastically as she walked by the door.

"Danny, it was horrible!" she came in, "That was the worst night of my high-school-related life! I...I...what are you looking at?" her anger suddenly seemed to fade away at the sight of the binder between the three of them.

"Family album," Danny said.

"Really?" Jazz walked over, now completely calm, "We haven't taken this thing off the shelf for ages," she started flipping through the pages. Images showed Danny and Jazz growing through the years, Sam and Tucker in a few of them. Tucker finally got his cap and Sam began wearing black and purple along with green. She stopped at a page filled with pictures from Halloween and got a sly grin.

"Remember this, you two?" she looked over at Danny and Sam, still grinning. The picture was from 6th grade's Halloween. Danny was dressed like Indiana Jones; Sam in flowing black robes with her hair styled the way she would later do it for "Parental Bonding." They were on the staircase, looked absolutely terrified. Sam's arms were clinging around Danny's neck, whose shoulders were up like a scared cat's hair.

"Oh..." Tucker's grin was so wide it seemed like the sides of his face would explode, "I remember this, oh boy! do I remember this!" Danny and Sam looked uncomfortably at each other.

---

"Halloween!" Jack declared, popping up in front of the house, "Tricks or Treats! Costumes! Jack O' Lanterns! And the night of the year with the most ghost-related activity!" Jazz, dressed as a chemist, sighed behind him.

"Good evening, Mr. Fenton," Tucker said cheerfully as he came up to the house, dressed in a very convincing werewolf costume.

"Hello there, Tucker!" Jack greeted him loudly before realising...

"...Didn't Danny just leave to get you and Samantha? And weren't you going as King Kong this year?" Tucker smiled suspiciously.

"I decided to come by early and help Jazz out with something. Got the stuff ready?" the question he directed to Jazz, who also wore a sly grin.

"Sure did."

"Let's do this," all three of them headed inside. The moment they walked in, however, a ring came at the doorbell. Jack turned around and opened the door.

"Cardboard Repair Service," a short, fat man in overalls, a T-shirt, gloves, and a cap stood in the doorway, "We'll repair all your utensils within 24 hours or your money back! I am Mark. I am the workman, driver, founder, treasurer, president, vice-president, CEO and only employee! May I interest you in our services?" Jack stared at him for a minute.

"Didn't you used to work down at the harbour?" he finally asked.

"Yeah, but I attempted to repair the hull of the ship with my special brand of corrugated cardboard and...I went into business for myself," more staring and awkward silence followed.

"Uh, Dad?" Jazz had been watching nervously; she _knew_ hiring this guy was a bad idea, "Isn't this the guy who sings the Heffalumps and Woozles song?" Jack's eyes buldged out at this.

"You know that song by heart?" he asked enthusiastically. Mark smirked before beginning...

They're black! They're brown! 

_  
They're up! They're down_

_  
They're in! They're out!_

_  
They're all about!_

_  
They're far! They're near_

_   
  
They're gone! They're here_

_  
They're quick and slick, they're insincere!_

_   
  
Beware! Beware! Be a very wary bear!_

And now Jack joined in...

_A heffalump or woozle_

_  
Is very confusil_

_  
A heffalump or woozle's_

_  
Very sly_

_  
(Sly! Sly! Sly!)_

_  
They come in ones and twosles_

_  
But if they so choosles_

_   
  
Before your eyes_

_You'll see them multiply!_

_   
  
(Ply! Ply! Ply!)_

_They're extraordinary_

_  
So better be wary!_

_  
Because they come_

_  
In ev'y shape and size!_

_  
(Size! Size! Size!)_

_  
If honey's what you covet_

_  
You'll find that they love it!_

Because they'll guzzle 

_  
Up the thing you prize!_

...And so it went on. Jazz groaned in frustration.

"I give up," she said, exasperated, "C'mon Tucker. Let's get this thing ready," they headed upstairs, leaving Jack and Mark to their singing. When they had finally finished the song...

"Now that you mention it, Mark my good man," Jack said through his smiling and laughing, "We finished the satellite on the roof a few years ago and the supports are already starting to loosen. Care to give them a look-over?"

"I shall get on it right away!" Jack led Mark into the Fenton household, Mark still humming the song to himself.

"What is this?" he said, noticing a cracked vase, "This is in need of The Box Treatment!" he placed a cardboard box over the vase, gave Jack a thumbs-up and a "yeh-ha!" before continuing upstairs. Jack eyed the box for a moment.

"Brilliant!" he declared, "Hey, when you're done up there I need you to come downstairs and out to the shed! We've got a lot of junk in this house that needs some work!"

---

"So why did Tucker leave early?" Danny asked. He and Sam were heading down the street towards his house. Danny was dressed as Indiana Jones. Sam had her hair up and was wearing black flowing robes.

"His mom said he wanted to hit extra houses first to get more candy," she rolled her eyes, "What's the point of trick-or-treating anyway? There's no tricks and there's no vegetarian treats!" Danny ignored that comment. He'd heard it too many times to try to argue. After a few minutes they finally arrived at his house.

"Uh, Danny?" Sam asked, "Does your house seem a little...off?" she had a point; an old, white ice-cream van painted over sloppily to read "Cardboard Repair Service" was parked nearby, the lights were off, and a strange, foggy glow seemed to come from around the house.

"Now that you mention it..." Danny said, "My dad never decorates for Halloween. He says that ghosts are drawn to homes where no one is "protected and prepared" for the holiday," they stayed outside for a few more minutes.

"So," Sam finally said, "are we going in?"

"Sure," Danny smiled quickly, brushing off his uneasiness, "Jazz probably decorated to seem normal," still, he waited a few more moments before opening the door.

"Hello?" he called, "Mom? Jazz? Dad?" all the lights were off, and not a soul seemed to be present. The fog that seemed to surround the house from the outside was also present within. Quite the eerie sensation.

"Danny?" Sam said quietly; both were beginning to worry.

"No one's home," he laughed nervously, "Must've...gone out ghost-hunting," but that wouldn't explain Jazz's absence. Maybe this was...

"If this is a trick, then we're on to you, Jazz!" Danny shouted without really believing what he was saying; no response.

"Is it...a trick?" Sam asked. Just then, a terrible cry came from upstairs and filled the house. Any sense in Danny's body that wasn't tense already snapped to attention, and his legs involuntarily forced him back. He felt Sam's hand clamp down around his shoulder rather hard.

"That was Jazz," she managed to say through fast, uneven breaths. Danny had the same problems, but he managed to keep it a bit more under control.

"Let's go," he said with a quick release of breath. They slowly began to head upstairs, careful not to make even the slightest sound. A strange, almost musical air current seemed to rush around them as they carefully moved forward. They stopped as a snapping sound filled the air around them.

"What was that?" Sam asked in a hurry.

"Shhh," ...silence. Then a flash of light appeared before them as what appeared to be a giant, two-legged wolf jumped out in front of them. Sam's arms went completely around Danny's neck as his shoulders shot up and he stumbled back. Their brief moment of terror passed by incredibly fast, however, when the lights and entire house returned to normal and the sounds of hysteric laughter could easily be heard. Jazz and a now unmasked Tucker were rolling on the floor just a few steps up from them.

"You should have seen yourselves!" Tucker managed to cry out.

"They will!" Jazz held up a camera; that explained the flash, "This gets developed tomorrow!" and with that, before either Danny or Sam could make a move, and still laughing, the two pranksters of the evening charged downstairs, knocking Danny and Sam over. After a brief moment of awkwardness, they followed in pursuit.

---

Mark was still whistling to the tune of "Heffalumps and Woozles" on the roof as he worked at the supports with his tools. His tools were a hammer, nails, a gluestick, staples, and cardboard-coloured tape. So far, he had used everything but the tape; all had proven inefficient to re-securing the steel bars. He finally set down the stapler after wasting every staple he had on him.

"Time for the last resort, guaranteed to work," he said to himself, reaching for the tape. He began wrapping this along the edge of the support. As he did so, however, he moved too close to the edge, and that tape certainly wasn't going to hold him. It snapped, sending him headfirst and screaming into his truck. A few moments later, he floated out...floated? Yes, floated. He was now semi-transparent, with red eyes and blue skin.

"Wh...wha?" he rubbed his head, looked around, and then noticed his new-found ability to levitate, "What is this? Did I...am I now...a ghost? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I cannot be a ghost! I do not know how to be a ghost! I cannot live without my precious cardboard containers! WHYYYYYYYYYYYY...y?" he looked over to the side. As he moved his hands, his boxes moved with them, ready to do whatever he wished them to.

"You mean...I may still cherish all things cardboard, square, and container in use?" he got a goofy grin and a new, stupid, fake-evil laugh and voice, "Yes...YES! I know now what I must do! I am no longer Mark, of the Cardboard Repair Service! I am now...The Box Ghooooooooooost!" he broke into evil laughter, "Beware!" he flew off.


	5. Dash's Arrival and Living Twice

Tucker and Jazz were on the floor, rolling with laughter as they had done that Halloween night. Danny and Sam glared, not amused in the slightest.

"You really should have seen your actual faces!" Tucker said after a few minutes of recovery. This did nothing to improve either's mood.

"This reminds me of the thing at school that convinced everyone you two were a couple," Jazz said, "Now, as I remember it..."

"If we're discussing unpleasant events, let's make it one for all of us," Sam interrupted defiantly.

"Like what?" Tucker asked.

"Dash moving in," Danny said glumly, "7th grade," all smiling, grinning, laughing, and happy atmosphere disappeared with these words. As if by instinct, everyone's thoughts turned back to that unfortunate day.

---

7th grade had been in for only a few weeks, and other than that unfortunate incident that now led to everyone believing Danny and Sam to be a couple, all had gone well. Danny, Sam, and Tucker were now in science class, sitting together at their usual table in the back of the room.

"Good morning class," their elderly teacher walked in. Behind him was a large boy with blonde hair, a red-and-white jacket, and a smug grin.

"Good morning," some of the class echoed unenthusiastically. Their science teacher was more boring than Ben Stein.

"Today we welcome in a new student," he said boringly, motioning to the boy, "Please welcome Dash Baxter," Dash looked around the classroom. Girls began gawking over him; guys stared in admiration. Tucker, Sam, and Danny looked disinterested and continued with their quiet conversation.

"Pleased to meet y'all," he said, doing that motion Tad and Chad did in _The Farily Oddparents_ when delivering their speech. The swooning and "wow-ing" continued for everyone except Danny and company. Dash noticed, and was not happy.

"Thank you, Mr. Baxter," the teacher spoke up, "Please take a seat over there," he pointed to an empty chair by Qwan.

---

"You'll love Casper Junior High," Qwan said to Dash at lunch. Already Dash was welcomed into the jock's inner circle, "These nerds are a bunch of pushovers. You can beat on anyone who stands up to you and get any girl you want."

"Sounds like my kind of place," Dash popped off the tab on his soda, "and the sports teams?"

"Needs some work," Qwan said, "We could use a new star player for football."

"Well I guess I'll have to try out then, won't I?" Dash grinned stupidly, "Now, about the not-so-hot crowd in this place. Who were those kids that ignored my presence once I made my introduction here?"

"Danny Fenton, Tucker Foley, and Sam Manson," Qwan said from memory, "Among the biggest losers in the school. Word is that Danny and Sam are together. You should have been here last week when they..."

"So what's with them not showing their superiors some respect?"

"Manson's a vegetarian/environ...envi...one of those people who care about trees and little prairie dogs. She's also into ghosts and dresses all creepy. Foley's a stupid techno geek, and Fenton...he's just not cool."

"Fenton sounds like the worst of 'em," Dash mumbled, "Anyone who doesn't have a reason to be a loser, and still is...that makes me _sick_."

"His sister's a grade up from us. She's like his opposite. Cool, hot, everything he's not."

"Remind me to check her out later. Right now," he rolled up his sleeve, "I have some introductions to make," with that, he marched across the lunchroom. Danny, Sam and Tucker were gathered around their usual table, Tucker looking over his PDA.

"These pics from last week are really quite impressive," he smiled slyly, hiding the pictures from view, "wanna see them again?" the yelling of the negative response almost knocked Tucker off his chair, but it didn't wipe the grin from his face, "Alright then, I'll save them for later."

"Haven't you spent enough time looking over those!?" Sam yelled.

"Remind me at the end of the decade," their conversation was interrupted by the shadow of a fellow student looming over them.

"You must be Danny Fenton," Dash wasted no time in singling Danny out from among the trio.

"Yeah..." Danny could tell by the tone of this kid's voice that this was not going to be good, "Dash, right?"

"I noticed you three weren't too enthusiastic when I introduced myself to this place," he looked menacingly and the three of them.

"Well," Tucker laughed nervously, "We would have, of course, but..."

"Save it, Foley."

"Wow. He picks up on names fast."

"I said, SAVE IT!" that silenced Tucker, "Now, Manson and Foley have reasons for being such losers. That's wrong, but not sick. You, Fenton," he looked Danny straight in the eye, "just are a loser from what I here. And that's _sick_."

"O-KAYYYYY..." Danny nodded, not sure how to answer, "Sorry?" suddenly, Dash grabbed Danny by the shirt collar and held him up in the air.

"I've been here for less than a day and already you're getting on my nerves, Fenton! I'm at the top of the cool scale already, so there's nothin' ta stop me from beatin' your face..."

"A-hem," Dash turned around. An attractive 8th grader a bit shorter than he was was standing right behind him. Dash smiled.

"Hello there, gorgeous," he said in a would-be ladies man voice, "Can I help you?"

"I'm Jazz Fenton," the girl said, not amused, "That's my brother you're strangling," Dash looked back at Danny.

"Oh! Right, right," he threw Danny onto the table, "So, now that Twinkie's out of the way, tell me about yourself. Me, I'm Dash Baxter, new student, soon-to-be star quarterback, and soon-to-be school hero..." he never finished that sentence. A huge shot of soda came from behind, knocking him face-first into a plate full of pudding. Blinded, he stumbled around, crashing into the janitor's clean-up bucket. He soon was rolling out of the cafeteria, screaming. The jocks followed after him, trying to save their newest member and future leader. Sam tossed the now empty soda can into a nearby trashbin, smiling.

---

"Actually, that day didn't turn out half bad," Sam said, smiling. Remembering Dash's little incident brought the cheerful atmosphere back into the room. The four spent the next half-hour going over the old album, laughing at old memories as they found particular photographs. Tucker's following Jazz on her first date, graduation from Junior High, and the vacation they all took together last summer.

Finally, once the rememberances were winding down as they neared the back of the album, Maddie came in, saying it was time for Sam and Tucker to head back. They exchanged goodbyes at the door, and Jazz set the album back on the shelf.

"That was pretty fun," she said contently, "We should really do stuff like that more often."

"Yeah," Danny nodded, "Not that much, though," Jazz yawned.

"Well, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

"'Night," Danny said. After Jazz headed upstairs, Danny turned back to the album. Another memory of his was coming to mind, one that wasn't in this album and one that no one had shared with him. It had happened just a few months ago, when the Ghost-Zone Portal had failed to work. Seeing his parents' disappointment, he had donned that lab-suit and headed inside the machine...

**THE END**


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